Dalu o!Thanks a billion.You are right on.I got a quote for N425,000 for all 40 pieces 4 x 4 windows for the simple design @ around N9,000 each.You do well.

For all the late response to questions, for all the unreplied mails, for all the unreturned calls and some few missed appointments, for the lack of images in the last 3 days, I am deeply sorry. one of my phones has been giving me problems and though I bought a new version of it, the new one is malfunctioning. I am missing some communication in the recent past. (a new client is annoyed with me about this)

Please bear with me for some days as I sort out my missing phone records. Thanks.

spyder880:

Sorry bros, I have been very busy of late. That my simple design burglary goes for N9k for a 4x4 window with thick square pipes. Lighter pipe will be done with about N6.5k naira.

@Spyder. Please no vex. Can you post a pix of this or refer me to the particular page if you have already displayed it.

spyder880:

For the plain ones (the ones in the rooms behind the house) thick - N5k and light N3.8k each 4x4 ft window.

@Spyder. Please no vex. Can you post a pix of this or refer me to the particular page if you have already displayed it.


When i got a quote for burglary, i thought the guy was trying to rip me off. With what you have just said and posted, I can see clearly that the quote is more than reasonable. Make i go call the guy sharp sharp before he changes his mind.

Hi spyder880,
I sent this info to your email but it seems you are busy.

Please, I need your help. As you may remember, I had a lot of issues with the way the foundation of my building was being handled and as a result I had to suspend the German flooring.

As you suggested, I asked the builder to give me a quotation for materials and labour cost for the flooring. My plan was not to be involved with paying workers. I wanted it to be done by the builder. For the materials, he quoted for 40 bags of cement and 5 tippers of gravel and sand for a 2-wings 3 bedroom flat. Each wing has a kitchen, small store and 3 toilets.

Now, I am not happy with the way the builder is handling this job:

1. Firstly, after 7 days, he hasn't finished the flooring. Please, is the flooring not supposed to be done at once? As it's been done bits by bits, won't it have cracks as some areas will be drier than others?

2. Secondly, he said the 40bags of cement he quoted won't be enough. He requested for more 15bags but I provided 16 bags for him to finish the job. And I learnt today that 2 sitting rooms are still not covered yet and that I need to buy more cement. Please, if you are handling this type of work, how many bags of cement will it consume. This to enable me determine whether the builder is either fraudulent or incompetent to know exactly what the right quantity of materials should be.

3. And I hate this bits by bits work. I am frustrated. If I "escape" from this builder in this stage of german flooring, I won't want him to continue with the building and I will have to travel home and supervise it by myself. He knows that Europe is too far!!!.

Your advice and other experts here will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all.

NL1960:

@Spyder. Please no vex. Can you post a pix of this or refer me to the particular page if you have already displayed it.




@Spyder. Please no vex. Can you post a pix of this or refer me to the particular page if you have already displayed it.


When i got a quote for burglary, i thought the guy was trying to rip me off. With what you have just said and posted, I can see clearly that the quote is more than reasonable. Make i go call the guy sharp sharp before he changes his mind.

ok, for the designed 4x4 ft window.

and for the plain, old fashioned type.

Favour_me: Hi spyder880,
I sent this info to your email but it seems you are busy.

Please, I need your help. As you may remember, I had a lot of issues with the way the foundation of my building was being handled and as a result I had to suspend the German flooring.

As you suggested, I asked the builder to give me a quotation for materials and labour cost for the flooring. My plan was not to be involved with paying workers. I wanted it to be done by the builder. For the materials, he quoted for 40 bags of cement and 5 tippers of gravel and sand for a 2-wings 3 bedroom flat. Each wing has a kitchen, small store and 3 toilets.

Now, I am not happy with the way the builder is handling this job:

1. Firstly, after 7 days, he hasn't finished the flooring. Please, is the flooring not supposed to be done at once? As it's been done bits by bits, won't it have cracks as some areas will be drier than others?

2. Secondly, he said the 40bags of cement he quoted won't be enough. He requested for more 15bags but I provided 16 bags for him to finish the job. And I learnt today that 2 sitting rooms are still not covered yet and that I need to buy more cement. Please, if you are handling this type of work, how many bags of cement will it consume. This to enable me determine whether the builder is either fraudulent or incompetent to know exactly what the right quantity of materials should be.

3. And I hate this bits by bits work. I am frustrated. If I "escape" from this builder in this stage of german flooring, I won't want him to continue with the building and I will have to travel home and supervise it by myself. He knows that Europe is too far!!!.

Your advice and other experts here will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all.

The only persons that can finish the German flooring of a 2 wing flats of 3 bedrooms + other facilities with 40 bags of cement are magicians, and sadly building houses is for more serious professionals. German flooring is supposed to take a day if good arrangements were done ahead of the work, 2 days max. I had told you this guy is playing tricks with you, and I think I sent you a complete list of materials and expected labour costs you might encounter at this stage, check your private mail again because you confirmed receipt of the mail back then?

^^^
Favour, please don't let anyone frustrate your work. I have a similar but smaller project and you can accelerate the pace of your project if you do not determine your expenses per bags of cement. Actually, it costs you more to buy cement in smaller quantities. If you plan to attain certain milestones in this project before taking a break, I would advise that you buy some materials (cement, rods, wood etc) and store them away in a safe place. Have your relative make delivery and monitor the progress of work without taking over the job of the builder. There shouldn't be any worry since remaining materials will be used in the next stage.

Get regular updates from your relatives but also from your builder. Find out what exactly the problems are: workers run out of supply, builder hired fewer workers, or builder is just incompetent? At most it should take 1-2 days to complete the entire floor, if neither materials nor labor was lacking. Different builders do things differently! Therefore it won't be exact to determine cement quantity without info about surface area plus the thickness of your floor. It might cost you more to go home just yet, maybe later to facilitate the casting of your deck. But I'm sure you can make it work even from your base in Europe. A dubious contractor will always find a way to cheat if he chooses to do so.

Few photo updates will enable you to get some useful comments. You should be prepared to deal with public criticisms and I'm sure you'll be satisfied with loads of suggestions that you'll get here.

I admire your courage! Buying a piece of land let along blocks no be moi moi. You are already doing great, keep doing what you are doing. Cheers

Jussi, thanks for your great encouragement. I really appreciated it. Anyway, from what I have spent so far (N1,458,000) for just foundation and german flooring on a solid land and yet the German flooring hasn't been completed.

I have noted in this forum different figures people either used or suggested for foundation stage and I have so far spent around that figure without the foundation work completed. Something must be going on there!

I have decided to save more money and travel home by next year to do it by myself.

spyder880:

The only persons that can finish the German flooring of a 2 wing flats of 3 bedrooms + other facilities with 40 bags of cement are magicians, and sadly building houses is for more serious professionals. German flooring is supposed to take a day if good arrangements were done ahead of the work, 2 days max. I had told you this guy is playing tricks with you, and I think I sent you a complete list of materials and expected labour costs you might encounter at this stage, check your private mail again because you confirmed receipt of the mail back then?

I have seen the document you sent for a 6flats 2 storey building. Thank you once again for this. I have listed below interesting items from the document:

1. Cement = 160 bags
2. 9" hollow block = 1,400 blocks
3. Total cost = N1,274,900


But I have used/spent the following for my foundation and yet the foundation hasn't been completed:

1. Cement (for basket, pillar and block setting for foundation only) = 85 bags
2. Cement so far used for German flooring = 56 bags (expected to buy more bags to complete the flooring)
3. 6" Solid Block = 1,850 blocks
4. Total spent so far = N1,458,000


Another interesting part relating to the number of blocks used so far is that I bought a total of 1,850 blocks but the contractor collected labour cost for laying 2,019 blocks. How can I pay for laying more blocks than originally bought? Though the contractor said half blocks is charged like 1 block but for me the difference between 1,850 and 2,019 is too much to be accounted for by half blocks.

Please, let me know if what I have spent/used so far is reasonable..

And according to your estimate also, total cost for 1ST FLOOR BLOCK WORK, LINTELS AND PILLARS is N1,229,000. This estimate, if its true, is interesting. How I wished I could spend that money for my own.

Below are pictures at the early stage of foundation

whats happening? the pictures are not showing!

Favour_me:

I have seen the document you sent for a 6flats 2 storey building. Thank you once again for this. I have listed below interesting items from the document:

1. Cement = 160 bags
2. 9" hollow block = 1,400 blocks
3. Total cost = N1,274,900


But I have used/spent the following for my foundation and yet the foundation hasn't been completed:

1. Cement (for basket, pillar and block setting for foundation only) = 85 bags
2. Cement so far used for German flooring = 56 bags (expected to buy more bags to complete the flooring)
3. 6" Solid Block = 1,850 blocks
4. Total spent so far = N1,458,000


Another interesting part relating to the number of blocks used so far is that I bought a total of 1,850 blocks but the contractor collected labour cost for laying 2,019 blocks. How can I pay for laying more blocks than originally bought? Though the contractor said half blocks is charged like 1 block but for me the difference between 1,850 and 2,019 is too much to be accounted for by half blocks.

Please, let me know if what I have spent/used so far is reasonable.

And according to your estimate also, total cost for 1ST FLOOR BLOCK WORK, LINTELS AND PILLARS is N1,229,000. This estimate, if its true, is interesting. How I wished I could spend that money for my own.

Even the 160 bags I quoted for the German floor is just trying to be prudent, it will be very difficult for another builder to equal that and still offer good quality. (the engineer suggested 3'' thickness there because of land type) Your paying for 2000+ blocks as against 1850 full blocks is very much in order, those halves and quarters and sometimes 1/8's are counted as full blocks and paid for as such. I know from first hand experience that it takes more time to lay a 1/2 or 1/4 block than it takes to lay a full block.

I can attribute the difference in blocks qty used to factors like your foundation depth, your surface blocks height (foundation height) and actual sizes of rooms (all rooms are not age mates na!) lolzzzzzz

spyder880:

Even the 160 bags I quoted for the German floor is just trying to be prudent, it will be very difficult for another builder to equal that and still offer good quality. (the engineer suggested 3'' thickness there because of land type) Your paying for 2000+ blocks as against 1850 full blocks is very much in order, those halves and quarters and sometimes 1/8's are counted as full blocks and paid for as such. I know from first hand experience that it takes more time to lay a 1/2 or 1/4 block than it takes to lay a full block.

I can attribute the difference in blocks to factors like your foundation depth, your surface blocks height (foundation height) and actual sizes of rooms (all rooms are not age mates na!) lolzzzzzz

Thanks for your response. Room sizes are standard. But any justification why I have so far spent more than your quote but foundation still not completed. In fact, I will need to spend more.

Favour_me:

Thanks for your response. Room sizes are standard. But any justification why I have so far spent more than your quote but foundation still not completed. In fact, I will need to spend more.

Too many probable reasons,

1. How has the funding for this project been, are workers sure of being paid daily, they could charge more if the funds are delayed.
2. Are materials dropped in bits and pieces or provided where it is needed in good time to aid advance planning. Delays in materials supply are very costly.
3. pricing, do your men on the ground bargain very well (without losing focus on job quality)
4. The Price quoted vs inflation since last year.

So, what is new here?

1. The decking in Owerri has been completed.
2. The bungalow roofing in Enugu is planned for next week.
3. A new thread for the building of another neat duplex, a bungalow and gate house/generator house will be created as soon as the landlord gives the permission.
4. We might also commence the setting of blocks on the deck of the duplex in Owerri by next week. Blocks are ready, the frontal columns will also start to grow.

^^
Not another thread please! Since it's also going to be a duplex, why not merge it with one of your/the already existing duplex thread? A new thread will be ok if the project is something new and different! Anyway, who even ask me lol!

prince_onx: ^^
Not another thread please! Since it's also going to be a duplex, why not merge it with one of your/the already existing duplex thread? A new thread will be ok if the project is something new and different! Anyway, who even ask me lol!

Owner's request bros

Lets see if the pictures for the decking will load after so much attempts. This is the first day, with the concrete mixer being used to turn the mixture.

and this is the thickness of the slab, up to 8 inches in most places.

I ensured it was watery all through

some completed areas

The finished product.

Oga Spyder, Thanks for the updates.. much appreciated o. My question is about electrical work. When is a good time to start dropping the pipes for wires and all. I saw from your pictures that some electrical work was done at decking only. Can it be done on the ground floor prior to lintel or is not time yet to consider that.

yetibabe: Oga Spyder, Thanks for the updates.. much appreciated o. My question is about electrical work. When is a good time to start dropping the pipes for wires and all. I saw from your pictures that some electrical work was done at decking only. Can it be done on the ground floor prior to lintel or is not time yet to consider that.

Earlier in this forum, some have advocated for the insertion of conduit pipes at the block laying stage, before the lintel. The young man who made the suggestion was of the opinion that it will make everything to be buried internally without coming back to chisel through block and concrete. I told him it was a brilliant idea but the applicability of this option will problematic the way I see it.

But before I proceed, I must state here that this is the way toilet piped are laid internally, everything inside the walls/lintels. But I think this is because toilet conduit pipes already have a base in the German floor, it can stand on its own while you work on upper blocks and lintels.

Electrical conduit pipes start at around 2 feet from the floor in all rooms (socket position) the first problem will be how to suspend it in the air till you are ready to place your sockets after block work. The next problem will be how to measure the exact lenght of pipe that will protrude on top of the lintel beam to the deck. Taken the uncertainty about deck height, you will be faced with a situation where you cannot be sure of where to place pipes owing to the fact that the position of the outside light will need to be chosen and marked even while there are no blocks on the lintels. This is scary and prone to mistakes.

We place conduit pipes only when the deck wood has been done and we are sure of how high the deck will be. We then chisel to desired positions and place sockets and lamp positions taking all heights into consideration. Another advantage of doing conduit pipes at the deck stage is the ease of standing on the deck to set all connections according to the electrical plans of the house. Socket and lamp boxes only stay at the surface of the walls, thats why its easier to place pipes on the surface instead of burying them inside blocks only to break the blocks later, fishing for the pipes and when you find it inside the walls, drawing it out to align with the surface.

Electricians should please use cement and sand mixture to plaster the pipes into the walls, leaving only the boxes to show instead of leaving the walls open after doing conduit works.

I have been busy in past two days preparing my new house for moving in. I have worked on the compound (sand filling) and now we are putting electrical wires/swiches and lamps in needed position. We have not done any external painting, or any works upstairs. The plan is to move into the ground floor and wait till Nigeria improves or the kids continue from where I stopped

My men are all around, helping out in everything. I give all of una an e-invitation to warm the house with me in spirit, phew! How sweet it is to live in your own house. May you all experience this blessing in Jesus name.

Oga Spyder, Thanks a lot for the answer to my question. It was quite detailed and informative. I was starting to get worried about the electrical outlay. May God continue to bless you as you blossom in your new house and in your business. Daalu.

The Spyder team took this week out for resting and to recharge for upcoming responsibilities. We have recieved more funding to continue work in the two sites we are working on (walling the upper floor of the 6 bedroom duplex in Owerri, starting the designed pillars and roofing the bungalow in Enugu.)
There is also a possibility that we shall be starting another thread for an entirely new project, a duplex + penthouse at Ebonyi state.

Next week will surely be loaded with activities and all the reports will be here on this forum live.

We are back in Owerri, forming the block walls of the upper floor of the 6 bedroom duplex. Two bedrooms has been built downstairs and four bedrooms are being formed upstairs.
Also, work on the pillar bases will soon start as we are ready to commence the outer pillars this week. Hoping to bring in more pictures later today.

Hi Spyder. Very interesting tread this is. I am ready to start a new house project in Abuja ( a four/five bedroom bungalow) all en suite or at least three bathrooms.Can anyone give me an idea how much this could cost? I know it all depends on a lot of factors but just a rough estimate of a standard house with good/tasteful finishing will do.

I have no definite building plan in place although I am exploring several ideas so im very much open to suggestions. I intend to have this house ready for occupation by december this year as we intend to vacation in naija this christmas and will be staying in this house. Furnishing for this house (beleive it or nt has been purchased and awaiting shipping)!!! I would not mind hearing from an architect and a QS. i need to move very fast with this.

Many thanks

Milady2012: Hi Spyder. Very interesting tread this is. I am ready to start a new house project in Abuja ( a four/five bedroom bungalow) all en suite or at least three bathrooms.Can anyone give me an idea how much this could cost? I know it all depends on a lot of factors but just a rough estimate of a standard house with good/tasteful finishing will do.

I have no definite building plan in place although I am exploring several ideas so im very much open to suggestions. I intend to have this house ready for occupation by december this year as we intend to vacation in naija this christmas and will be staying in this house. Furnishing for this house (beleive it or nt has been purchased and awaiting shipping)!!! I would not mind hearing from an architect and a QS. i need to move very fast with this.

Many thanks

Costing are better done when the plan is out because after I tell you it might cost N3.5m to build an average sized bungalow in Abuja, an architect could go on and draw a house with much fancy features which will make a non sense of our calculations.

This is the way our duplex project in Owerri looks right now. My boys are all busy doing some real work.